Hayling Island Horticultural Society
The Shows
2011 sees the 125th Anniversary of the founding of Hayling
Island Horticultural Society. The event will be celebrated by an
Anniversary Dinner and some special classes in the Shows. The cover
of the 2011 Year Book is a special edition with illustrations of
Victorian Gardening, specially designed by artist Mich'll
Kenworthy.
The Society holds three Shows a year at the Hayling Island
Community Association Centre. The Shows are open to both members
and non-members. Admittance is £1.00, but any exhibitor showing
more than two exhibits has free entry. Children get in free with
accompanying adults.
The Spring Show in April has the theme of Daffodils, the Early
Summer Show is held in June with the theme of Sweet Peas and Roses
and the Main Summer Show takes place in September with the theme of
Dahlias and Horticulture.
Hayling Island Horticultural Society is proud of being awarded
Hampshire Show of the Year on many occasions and last won it in
2006 for the Spring Show plus a Large Gold Award. Show of the Year
has now been discontinued by the Hampshire Federation, but may be
resurrected for special years.
The 2011 shows will be held at the Hayling Island Community
Association Centre, Station Road, West Town as follows:
- Spring Show - Saturday 26 March
- Early Summer Show - Saturday 25 June
- Main Summer Show - Saturday 3 September
For details of Shows, please contact Gill Swift, Show Recorder,
023 9246 8359 or Jan Mitchell, Publicity Officer 023 9246 5147. To
become a member, please contact Janet Lark, Membership Secretary,
023 9246 3538.
Talks
Talks, which are free to members and just £1.00 for visitors,
including refreshments, are held at the United Reformed Church
Hall, Hollow Lane, Mengham, Hayling Island, at 2.30pm on the fourth
Wednesday of the month.
The 2011 - 2012 programme of talks is as follows:
Wednesday 26 January "Clematis – a comprehensive talk on this
large family" by Marcus
Dancer.
Wednesday 23 February "Looking Forward to Summer" by Brian
Kidd.
Wednesday 23 March "Staunton Country Park" by Chris Bailey.
Wednesday 27 April "Are you sitting comfortably?" by Gwen
Appleton.
Wednesday 28 September "Cultivated Orchids, the Basics, the
Truth" by Roger Grier
Wednesday 26 October "Autumn Lights" by Marion Catt.
Wednesday 25 January "Flora Thompson – Beyond Candleford" by
John Owen-Smith.
Wednesday 22 February "Summer Garden" by Annette Wood.
The A.G.M. will be held at 7.30pm on Wednesday 23 November 2011
at the URC Hall.
Outings and Holidays
This year's outings have been organised by Eve Osborne, Outing
Organiser.
Thursday 2 June Leeds Castle
Thursday 20 July
RHS
Wisley
Thursday 1 September Buckingham Palace
Booking for all outings is from 26 January 2011.
The
HIHS
Holiday will be
a coach trip to Monschau, Germany in September 2011. All details
can be obtained from Bill Biggs, Chairman, 023 9246 8789.
Trading Centre
The Trading Centre offers an extensive range of gardening
supplies at very favourable prices. Items not displayed may be
specially ordered from the catalogue on request at the counter.
The Centre is run by volunteer members for the benefit of all
members and there is usually somebody on hand to give advice and
help when needed.
Membership cards must be shown when making purchases.
The Centre is on the telephone - 0780 0839 911 - for enquiries
during opening hours and on Thursday mornings. To help, contact the
Trading Manager, 023 9246 4654.
Trading Centre Opening Times:
February to June inclusive
Sundays and Wednesdays 9.30am to 12.00 noon
Thursdays 9.30am to 10.30am
July to January inclusive
Sundays 10.00am to 12.00 noon
Thursdays 9.30am to 10.30am
The Centre is closed over the Christmas period.
We welcome new members who are able to help at the Trading
Centre and with many aspects of the three shows - setting up,
stewarding, catering and clearing up.
To contact us: Janet Lark, Membership Secretary, 023 9246
3538
2011 Talk Reports
Fantastic Talk to Start the Year off!
A crowded
URC
Hall
saw members enjoy a great talk to kick the New Year off. Ray Jones
introduced Marcus Dancer, a nurseryman, who gave us a comprehensive
talk on the large Clematis family, illustrated by his own slides.
Marcus, who started his career with Hilliers, has been at
Sandleheath, Fordingbridge for 20 years. You can find out all about
his nursery on http://www.clematisplants.co.uk/
(external website)
Marcus stated that most people are interested in when and how to
prune clematis. He went on to illustrate the three main pruning
groups with his brilliant slides. Full advice can be found on the
web site. He recommended "Early Sensation" which can be grown as a
patio plant for 4-5 years. It is a winter flowering evergreen with
summer dormancy. Osmocote is recommended for all pots and when
re-potting it is advisable to root prune, removing one third.
There are now some Montanas that can be grown for ground cover
and not all Montanas are as rampant. "Montana Sunrise" is a double
clematis that can be controlled. To control clematis wilt in
large-flowered hybrids, bury them much lower than other groups.
When pruning, use a systemic fungicide and preferably, use two
different fungicidal sprays alternately. "Denny's Double" is a
superb large-flowered hybrid as is "Vyvyan Pennell"
The Viticella group has few pests and is very free flowering,
whilst the Texensis group can be used to scramble. Mildew is
controlled by some organic gardeners by using a spray of 1 part of
milk to 9 of water. Herbaceous clematis can be used to scramble
over shrubs or grown on obelisks . "Buckland Cascade" is great for
hanging baskets whilst "Cassandra" has a great perfume and does
well on the patio.
Finally, Marcus recommended a slow release fertiliser and
mulching for clematis. For the eternal question on pruning, consult
his web site!
You're not kidding! A Cracker of a talk for February.
Over 100 members attended the February talk at the
URC
Hall, given by Radio Solent
broadcaster Brian Kidd, retired Environmental Officer for
Portsmouth. Portsmouth-born, but now living at "cold, wet
Waterlooville", Brian joined Portsmouth Parks Department in 1954
and after his apprenticeship he studied Parks Management at
Reading.
"Looking Forward to Summer" began with Brian in autumn, but he
skipped winter because he hates snow.
He began with a joke and the laughs kept on coming. I don't know
whether we learned very much, but his wide-ranging slides were very
entertaining. I'll just pass on a few of his tips. When your
daffodils don't flower any longer, dig them up and give them to a
friend: they will flower like mad in the change of soil. Give your
roses each a teaspoonful of Epsom salts. When did you last need 500
lettuces? So - plant a few every two weeks. If you have a camellia
or a pieris, go to a jumble sale and buy an XXX lady's dress. If
frost is threatened when they are at their best, go out before
dark, place the very large dress over the shrub and secure the neck
with two pegs. Next morning, take the wet dress and peg it on the
line to dry out.
We saw beautiful pictures of formal bedding in Southsea and the
secret is to plant close enough to prevent weeds. One bed required
reddish leaves as a border, so Brian planted beetroot. It looked
lovely, but a councillor said that they'd be pulled up and eaten by
the kids. Brian retorted that not one child in Portsmouth knew what
a growing beetroot looked like! We also enjoyed shots of Britain in
Bloom gardens and businesses in Portsmouth and Southsea. We were
privileged to see some pictures of Brian's own lovely garden and
allotment.
It was a most enjoyable afternoon for all.
Jan Mitchell